Entwined Paths ~*~ chap 1 part 2 ~*~ {pg 13+}

[ishaah]

Chapter One – The Diaries
Part 2
~Blake~
Dagger

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So I'm sitting in the luggage compartment on this huge airplane, heading from Sydney to Western Australia, I have this paper and a whole world of boredom so I figure I'll write a diary of my life up till now, I tell ya what, its been a strange journey, interesting to say the least, or at least I think so, anyway, I'll start from as early as I can remember.


My first memory is when I was six; I remember it because it is when I was first left to live alone, on the street, to make my own life. My father was a drunk, I mean, he put normal every day drunks to shame, this man could put down three bottles in an hour, and that's what he did right up until the day he died, he was rich, inheritance, lazy ass bum did nothing his whole life, he could have done great things, but instead he chose to sit on his fat rump and drink. I don't remember my mother at all, she died before I was old enough to even sneeze on my own, there are many stories as to how she died, but I'm gonna go with the beaten to death with a bottle, it makes sense and I wouldn't put it past my father, he was a lazy son of a bitch but you just really didn't want to piss him off, man he was brave, beating up on a six year old. Anyways I'm sure my depressing beatings is interesting but I'm not going into that, it had no meaning to me, just the start of the rest of my life really, in fact I think it was good, it led me to a life I am happy with, not at all easy, that's what makes it so good, I have seen the real world, the world everyone blocks out and it is far more beautiful than I could have imagined. Oh right my story, I'll get back to it shall I. Okay so I'm six, and my father didn't get off his fat lazy bum ass to get his bottle, he demanded I get it and I just looked up from my book, sighed and got up, I walked casually down to the wine cellar. That's funny, Wine cellar, a place made for wine to age, but the only thing that aged in that wine cellar was bourbon and boxes filled with my Mothers stuff. I walked up to the bourbon but something caught my eyes, something shining in one of the boxes, I put the bourbon down and walked over to the box and reached in, I felt something and my hand stung, when I pulled my hand out blood trickle down from my finger, weirdly though I didn't cry out, it just made me more curious, I leaned my hand back in and I pulled out this awesome Dagger, it was amazing, and I decided right away that it was now my dagger, it was in my mothers boxes and they had been down in the cellar my whole life, its not like my Father wanted it, not that it would matter after long, soon he was going to be gone as well. Anyways I was looking the dagger over when I herd the door open, I watched as my father walked down the stairs, its weird you know, how someone can be so drunk and walk down a flight of stairs perfectly, without even stumbling. When father got to me, I hid the dagger in my sleeve, I knew if he had seen it he would take it away, not because its dangerous for a six year old to have a shape knife, no he would take it because he didn't want me to have anything, man you should have seen my room, I had a mattress on the floor, an itchy blanket and that is all, not that I cared, I was six, I mean honestly, how fussy can a six year old be, its not like I was about to turn around and tell my Father I wanted a windscreen TV with a game system of some form. Anyway back to the story, My father glared at me then he grabbed me by the sides of my shoulders and he shook me, I have no idea what he was yelling, I was getting dizzy and seeing weird lights from being shaken, Next he threw me and I hit the wall, the crack my arm made was awesome, it sounded just like someone standing on a stick and snapping it, now I cried, well wouldn't you, the ass just threw me into a wall and broke my arm. Okay the next part is sweet, its was so beautiful, so amazing and so convenient, My father walked away and grabbed a bottle from the shelf, I was still where he had thrown me, He smashed the bottle on the ground and he started walking towards me with it. This is where it gets beautiful, Somehow when my Father was shaking me I dropped my dagger and it landed in a crack in the floor, the blade facing up, he tripped and landed on it, just like that, right through his heart, it was so perfect, like everything had been positioned perfectly. Now I know I sound like a psycho or something, I'm not, its not the getting killed that was beautiful, it was HOW it happened, See at the time I didn't think it was so amazing, I was scared and in pain, But now, after all I have seen, I have a real appreciation for how things happen, but I guess you will see why as my story progresses. Anyway, I stayed where I was for a while, then I worked up the courage to get up, I walked over and I pushed my father so he was on his back, took me ages but I wanted my dagger, it was hard to pull back out of him, specially since I had a broken arm, but I managed to get it, then I ran, I ran right up the stairs, through the house, out the door, then I ran down the street, then another, then another, I started getting itchy from dry blood so I stopped when I got near the beach and I went and washed myself off, then I sat and watched the water while I dried. Six years old, alone on a beach in Sydney, more people than I can even remember walked past me that day and not one of them stopped to ask where my parents were, society, gotta love it, it's the great way of life, pretend you don't see it, then its not your problem, I mean, why should someone care about anyone but themselves, what's the point, big suits and fancy dresses, what more is there to life. In the late afternoon another kid around my age came and sat with me for a while, we talked about race cars until his mother saw him and she dragged him away saying something about playing with strange people, this is when I figured it was time for me to leave, my arm hurt and I was hungry, really really hungry. I headed to the main street and I walked around, it was busy, there were lots of people around, I tried to talk to a lot of people but they just pretended they couldn't see me, I was six, I needed help and no one cared to see it, that is, no one who had everything, everything by definition is: Whatever pertains to the subject under consideration; all things. But I'm talking about everything as in, not nothing, I guess everything is different for each individual, But I'm talking money, possessions, things that have no meaning in the long run, I found that out early. Anyway, I walked around all night, looking for help, looking for someone who would listen, I finally did find someone, an old man, he looked dirty and he smelt bad, He handed me some bread and I ate it, he asked me where was my parents and I told him what had happened, then he took me back to his place, when I say place, I mean the ally he lives down, he gave me his only blanket and he ripped a strip off and made a sling for my arm, I fell asleep almost strait away.
In the morning when I woke up the man was sitting on an old trolley, he handed me an apple and he smiled, his smile was awesome, he had one tooth missing but it was so friendly, and his teeth were pretty clean. After We ate our apples he asked if I had someone who would be looking for me, I told him I didn't, which was true, then he asked me my name, I told him it was Blake, he asked me what my last name was, I didn't know then, and I don't know now, I'm just Blake. I asked the man what his name was and he told me people call him Coal.

I could go on about the little things we did, but its boring and I can't be bothered writing it, writing isn't my strong point, I rarely had the means to write and I only know as much as Coal taught me or I taught myself.

Anyway, Coal took me with him everywhere he went, he got me food and helped me stay warm and safe, we became best friends. Now this is where I started to see the world, not through the eyes of TV, not through the eyes of a money holding citizen, I saw the world through the eyes of someone who had everything that mattered, I had Coal, I had care, and trust and shelter, I was safe and protected. The world I saw was both harsh and shallow, I saw people getting beat in fights, or stumble home so high they can't see strait, I saw couples fighting, Kids crying and the homeless like myself ignored, treated like freaks. Even now I don't see how that is fair, its not someone's fault they have nothing, I remember when I was Seven, it was easy to remember my birthday, it was Christmas day so I never forgot it, it was a while into my seventh year though, Coal and I were walking down the street and some guy in a suit bumped into us, he shouted and get this, he told Coal to get a job. Now there are so many things wrong with that, for starters, did this man think Coal chose to live on the street, he was there because he couldn't get a job long ago, not because he wasn't smart, not because he didn't try, not because he was lazy, But because no one would hire him. Its funny how people can just assume how others are without haven't the slightest clue how it really is, But Coal being Coal just apologized and we kept walking, this happened a lot.

As I was saying, I saw the world differently to a lot of people, now I mentioned bad things, but not everything was bad, I also saw amazing things, like people with nothing giving to those with less, in our community there wasn't anything to important to stop us from helping those who needed it more than ourselves, it was our way of life. I should mention that not everyone who was homeless was like us, some people we addicts to one thing or another, some were violent and some were just horrible people plane and simple, but we were just us, we were violent if that's what it took to protect ourselves or each other, but not for any other reason. Coal was exceptionally smart, he taught me how to read and write himself, and he was always telling me stories, just made up stories mostly but some were real, some were about his life before he came to live on the street, he didn't tell me that, but I could see it in his eyes.

Things were basically the same for years, rude people, good stories and food when we could get it right up until I was 13, that is when I literally was alone, That is when I woke up and Coal did not, It was a cold winter night, I guess it was to cold for him, by now he was old, 69 years is pretty old for a street person, no medical insurance so doctors visits aren't an option and the weather can be harsh, we didn't have a house to hide from cyclones, storms, rain or anything like that, we had to make do with what we had access to. I didn't want to leave Coal to rot away until someone found him so I called the police from a pay phone and informed them of a dead body and where he was. I also didn't want to stay their not now that Coal was gone, I left, its weird I guess, I had no where to go, but I still went anyway.
When you're alone, you have time to think, and take in all that's around you; personally I started to notice things, like there was this lady, the heel of her shoe got caught in a crack and broke causing her to fall over, now She cursed a blue streak, but
what she didn't see is a car driving far to fast to stop speeding around the corner, now if her heel hadn't broken, she would be dead right now. I don't believe in coincidence, not with the dagger falling how it did, and not with the ladies shoe, I believe everything happens for a reason, I don't believe our future is pre-written, we make our own destiny but I do believe that we are given a path, each of us, it may lead no where, it may lead somewhere major, who knows, But in the end we choose how to see it, we choose whether to take it and we choose what alliances we may take. Alliance, good or bad, it's a weird choice, what makes someone good and what makes someone bad, well its easy, if you do something with intention to hurt or destroy, that makes you bad and if you do something with the intention of good, to protect or to help, then you are good, its just another choice like everything else, Me I choose to be a good person, that's not to say I will never do 'bad' things, but more I will not do bad things with bad intent.

Back to the story, After I saw that lady's incident, I looked for that kind of thing all the time, in one day I would see no less then five, just small things, from dropping a bag, to finding a penny, all little things the person doesn't notice, but all things that stop something else from happening or make something else happen. I walked everywhere, I think I managed to see the whole of Sydney with how much I walked, I would just watch, no one wanted to talk to me, in fact some people would cross the street just so they didn't have to walk past me. I didn't care, I don't know why but I knew there was more to life for me, and in a few years I would be certain, but for now I just knew. I went to the beach I had gone to when I was younger, there was some kind of fete on, people were dressed up like Elf s and fairies and all other kinds of mystic beings, it was actually quite beautiful, people from all kinds of wealth, religion, color it didn't matter, everyone was there, all having fun, This was the day I learned that people could be kind, no matter who they were, my faith in people with money had disappeared when I was little, But I was just watching, there was so much kindness, people helping each other, joining together in games and competitions, people performing, and there of course was the bone heads who tried to ruin it for everyone, but they were just ignored. A group of girls dressed like fairies danced over to me, they asked me to come enjoy the fete and I did, I had a great time, Don't get me wrong, I was fine on my own, but for a brief time it was nice to be included, to be with people my own age, people who didn't judge me for what I look like, but for who I am, One of the girls, she introduced herself as Jasmine, she told me it was unfitting to see a gentleman not dressed as a gentleman, I think it was her way of offering me some fresh clothes, she took my hand and skipped dragging me with her to one of the stalls, she told me that I would make a great prince and she grabbed some clothes from a bag and handed them to me, she said that I could get changed in her caravan, which was just behind the stall. I thanked Jasmine and I accepted happily, I changed my clothes and I came back out. Jasmine and her friends all smiled and told me I looked great, I thanked them all. The girls dragged me around from game to game, Jasmine didn't have to pay for anything, and neither did her friends, I was classed as her friend, and I got to enjoy the fete for free, it was great, Everyone camped out on the beach around a big bonfire after the fete closed, telling stories and jokes and just having fun.
In the morning Jasmine woke me up, She smiled and she handed me an envelope, she told me that I was not to open it until I was 17, she said she knew I would wait, that she could trust me, then she said "goodbye Blake", At that time, I didn't even notice, I never told her my name. Jasmine left after that, and I also went on my way, I had my new clothes, something respectable unlike my old clothes, I will always be grateful to
Jasmine for what she did for me that night, she helped me to see both sides of the hill, the grass isn't greener on the other side, there are patches of brown and yellow amongst the green on either side, and I still believe that right now.

Another time jump, can't be bothered writing about my whole boring traveling, So I'll jump right to when I was 16, By now I had managed to acquire a small amount of money, not enough to buy a home, or a car, or a fancy TV, but enough to by food, and new clothes, I also got this holder for my dagger, and I kept my envelope in it as well. I might not be much, but trustworthiness is something I pride myself on, and opening something that I am not meant to see before I'm seventeen would have mad no sense. I sat on the corner of the main road I hang around, this is how I got my money, I sang, now I know its not socially acceptable to say you have a good voice yourself, but I do, and there isn't much about me that is socially acceptable so I'm find to say it, and I got enough money to live from singing so I can't be wrong, at least the way I see it is why would people stop and watch me, and give me money if I was no good. Well I sang more because I liked to sing anyway, not for the money, that was just a perk, it's weird, songs just came into my head, it was as if I was singing about something I was meant to sing about, one of my songs, my favorite song was about a bird who lost everything, she flew from one tragedy to the next, but she didn't give up faith, she kept going, for a while she turned her back on the world, but she was shown the way back to her path, it's a beautiful song, but its weird, it has no ending, it just ends with her heading off to follow a path she doesn't know. I guess that's why I love the song, its kind of like me, Following a path I don't know, taking in everything on the way and not letting bad things break me, no matter how hard that may be. As I Sang my song a girl stopped, she sat down on a bench and she watched me as I sing, my song brought tears to her eyes, she smiles at me and just watched happily right up until I got to the end of the song, after I had finished she walked over and dropped a $ 100 note in my hat, I thanked her, then I asked her why my song made her sad, she said that it was about a friend of hers. I looked at her oddly, or at least I think I did, I asked her how could my song be about her friend, when I wrote it myself, the words came into my head, she just smiled and said, she will see me tonight when I'm alone, for me to not look for her, because she can find me no matter where I am. I smiled, thanked her again, packed my money away then I left, I wasn't sure how to take that, a song I wrote, things that had come into my head, a girl that could find me anywhere, I knew I should have been weirded out, but I was actually more intrigued, I though about it all day, I brought myself a decent sides meal and a huge bottle of water, then I went down to the beach, that's where I was staying currently, there was this old drain or part of an old drain the provided me with both shelter and safety. I sat on the edge and watched the sun disappear and the moon reflect off the water, sometimes I wish I could draw, or afford a drawing someone else did of the moon over the water, that way no matter where I would go, no matter how far away from the water, I would always have it with me.

That night dolphins danced in the moons light, it was the first time I had ever seen dolphins before, I remember wondering why so many dolphins has come around to the one spot, I hoped they weren't going to beach themselves, that would be awful, though somehow I didn't think that was why they were swimming here. The dolphins swam like there was nothing else they wanted to do, they even ignored the nasty ass little punks who walked along the beach throwing shells or stones at them. After a while I was finally alone, I watched the beach to see if the girl was coming but I couldn't see anyone, the moon was full so I could see for miles either direction, I started wondering if the girl was playing me, but then I also wondered why a stranger would do that, she had no cause and she hardly seemed like the type to pull a prank like that.

Just as I was starting to drift off to sleep the most amazing light appeared, it was everywhere, it was so bright but it didn't effect my eyes at all, It was both scary and amazingly beautiful at the same time, and as it faded I saw the girl from earlier, She had two amazingly white wings, and she was smiling just as she had at the corner while listening to my song, She was an angel, can you believe that, of all the people in the world that an angel could appear to, she appeared to me. I was in aw, She told me her name was Annie, and that one day I will hear about her, but not today, she said she was just here to guide me, to tell me that I am an amazing person and that one day I would see more amazing things than I could imagine. I asked her about my song, how it could be about her friend and she told me one day I would understand that, She told me she was not here to give me answer to the questions I wanted to ask, she said she was here to give me an answer to the one I don't, I asked her what she mean and she said that when I want the answers there is one place to look and several to remember, she also said that I was special and for me not to fight who I am when the time comes, to just look to the Bird. Now that I was nice and confused she smiled, wished me luck and disappeared in the same light she came in. I went over those words in my head but still couldn't make sense of it, I let it go, I figured if I am meant to understand it, then I would when it is right to. I watched the dolphins disappear then I went to sleep.

That night while I was sleeping another song came into my head

Pretty little goldfish
swims for the world to see
So beautiful and cherished
But inside she wills to be free

Her reflection shows her something
That she fails to see
The pretty little goldfish
Every other fish wants to be

No one see her tears
when she cries in her own bowl
No one care to see the hurt
When she's put out on show

They think it's all so easy
That money makes you free
But pretty little goldfish
Longs for the open sea

Her reflection shows her something
That she's always failed to see
The pretty little goldfish
Every other fish wants to be

No one see her tears
when she cries in her own bowl
No one care to see the hurt
When she's put out on show

Now this wasn't the kind of song I normally sing, but I saw sadness in it, something real, just like the bird song, I wondered for a while if it was about Annie's friend, but it's way different from the bird song, didn't matter, it was a good song, see I don't think things have to be idle worthy, a song should make you feel something, and this song made me feel sad, so it was to me a good song.

Okay well I'm getting tired and my hand hurts from writing so I'm going to wrap this up, who knows, maybe someday someone might read this and think I'm totally nuts, but hey, its who I am, its how I write and its my life.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened, not until two months after my 17th birthday, that day I opened the letter, inside was a single piece of paper, it was written in glittery writing and it smelled like spring, The writing inside said "Blake, you will know what to do after you read this: when you want the answers there is one place to look and several to remember, you are special and don't fight who you am when the time comes
Your path is your own, though you will share it with others along the way, others like you " Jasmine was right, After I read the note I knew what to do, I don't know how or why I knew what to do but I did all the same, I packed up my stuff and I jumped on the first bus that came, it took me to the airport, I just shrugged and walking inside, the sign on the bored said "flight to Perth delayed" so I figured that was for me and I snuck on, I couldn't afford a ticket, so I snuck into the luggage compartment while no one was looking, and now here I am, writing this and waiting for my plain to land, that's my story, my past, now all I have ahead of me is future.